Jeremy Nathans

JEREMY NATHANS, the inaugural Samuel Theobald Professor of Ophthalmology, is a professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience, and ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research focuses on molecular mechanisms of visual system development, function, and disease.

Dr. Nathans is responsible for landmark discoveries that have changed our understanding of how humans see the world. His investigations into the mechanisms that allow us to see colors led him to identify the genes that code for color-vision receptors in the light-sensing cones of the retina. This breakthrough finding allowed him to show that variations in these genes cause color blindness. His work has also led to new understandings of the development, function, and survival of the retina.

Dr. Nathans received his undergraduate degree in Life Sciences and Chemistry from MIT and earned his PhD in Biochemistry and MD from Stanford University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Genentech, Inc. Dr. Nathans joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1988.

Dr. Nathans serves on the editorial board of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is on many scientific advisory boards, including those of The Foundation Fighting Blindness and Merck Research Laboratories. His research and teaching have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Newcomb-Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Initiatives in Research Award of the National Academy of Sciences, the Champalimaud Award in Vision Research, the Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience from MIT, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Biomedical Science from Stanford Medical School, and the Golden Apple Award from the American Medical Student Association. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.